How long should a run be?

Mon, 13 Sept 2010, 04:01 pm

     There was a show a few weeks ago that I had seen, which had odd faults that I thought would sort themselves as the season went on, however they didn’t, and the show was later described as ‘dire’. Recently a couple whose opinion I respect told me, that another comedy that I had really enjoyed and highly recommended was awful. This presentation was by a well-established and respected company. On the night that I saw this play it was at it’s best for timing, pace, interaction, visuals etc, yet according to my friends, with their performance nothing worked. Even the story was hard to follow, and the cast appeared to be floundering - there was certainly no magic there.
      Every company has the odd bad performance, but what I am wondering is, with community theatre especially, does ennui set in towards the final show?
      In the UK the pantomime season runs for up to three months, even the Curtin pantomimes used to run for 32 shows, by the end of which the cast were exhausted – now it is around only 12 shows. Recently ‘King Lear’ was on a long national tour, but the cast still kept up the quality. Should the audience, or the producer, be prepared to accept large variations in the nightly standard of amateur theatre?
       Because a play or its writer is well known, or the show has a famous TV background, does this mean that the number of performances should be increased to meet public demand? Should the season be set at what the cast are capable of handling? Or are some runs simply too long?

Competition

Wed, 15 Sept 2010, 12:51 pm

Labrug

There is another aspect to consider - the competition and the fortnightly salary. First the Competition. The number of Community Theatres (particularly in Perth) vastly out-number the professional ones, while the audience demographic is only impacted by the cost of the tickets. Percentage base, there is marginal demographic difference. We are all trying to attract the same people.

As far as I am aware (I may be wrong) the professional theatre companies do not see themselves as competing with Community theatre for market share. They have the capacity for stronger marketing and are far better recognised by the general public. On the other hand, many Com Theatres suffer from being too small to notice except within the Community Theatre Scene itself. Other Community Group have a good rep but nothing that compares with the high budget promotions of Black Swon or PTA.

This means that Community Theatre Productions are in competition with both Professional and each other for Audience Numbers. The timing of the shows can be near impossible to plan and as many would no doubt recall, there have been many occurrences were two theatre companies have put on the very same show within a month of each other. By spreading the season a little thinner, you can hopefully increase the appeal of attending one show over another or fall into a period where there is little competition and increase your turnover.

Now the Fortnightly Salary.

Most people cannot afford to go to several nights theatre in a given fortnight so you have to hope that your season doesn't clash with a higher profile production or you extend your season to cover two standard pay periods - 3 to 4 weeks. While that may not be the thought that goes in to the planning these days, as it has become very much the norm, but it was the main reason why regional UK companies spread their shows across several weeks, to increase their ability to capture people with money. You saw this quite frequently in regional mining towns.

Today, it is almost habitual : 10 to 12 shows across three weeks. Occasionally you might see a forth week. So to restate the point, the spread helps ease the level of inter-theatre competition and ensures greater capture of paying audiences.

Absit invidia (and DFT :nono:)

Jeff Watkins

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Thread (10 posts)

Threaded Flat

How long should a run be?— Gordon the Optom13 Sept 2010

IMHO, I think three weeks— Walter Plinge13 Sept 2010
Good question— Logos13 Sept 2010
Hmmmmm— Tom Camp13 Sept 2010
I feel it is more with the— JoeMc14 Sept 2010
I think Logos brings up— TaylorM15 Sept 2010
Competition— Labrug15 Sept 2010
- Just a minor point Jeff, at— Logos20 Sept 2010
  - I conceed— Labrug20 Sept 2010
If you look at it purely— jeffhansen15 Sept 2010

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